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Topic: "Pretend You Like Me." [Closed] (Read 2803 times)

The faunus stared at her silently for a few moments with a completely blank expression, before unexpectedly bursting out into laughter. "Oh gods tell me about it. Every time I go to the infirmary I have to add a day or two just from that mountain fo meat crushing me in one of her death hugs. Honestly you got off lucky." Her bemused expression faded back into her normal demeanor as her mind also wandered back to their sparring match. "Her size? Possibly. She makes a pretty tasty target to any snipers out there. Not that she has much of a chance in a ranged battle anyway. Shes mainly there to be a meatshield and punch things. But damn if she isn't good at those two things." She picked up one of her fries and ate it halfmindedly, her attention still focused on the woman across from her. "Honestly I'm more interested in you. I don't know how to say this without it coming across either really fuckin sarcastic or kissass. But you have an interesting set of abilities. With Mithra and I its mainly just shoving her body to match my powers and weapons. But for you I am going to need a much deeper analysis. Mainly because of how much more versatile you seem."

Lyssa didn't often share a meal with people, not to mention someone like Mira. At first, she could hardly bring herself to trust sleeping in the same room as this woman. The two argued, screamed and fought constantly. Yet here she was, sitting at the same table as her, having a casual conversation without losing her temper. It didn't occur to Lyssa just how unusual this was. That was probably for the best. The subject matter at hand made things a little easier, even if she didn't quite realize. Sure, they happened to be bitter rivals. First and foremost, however, they were partners. As much as that fact stung.

The redhead let a drawn-out sigh out from between her closed lips as she considered how to best answer the question. "... Gee. 'Meatshield' is usually my go-to. Let me think," she offered with a brief pause before following up. "Alright, so, generally speaking... Hrmm... Truth be told, my way of doing things is centered mostly around me. Yeah yeah, self-centered, haha, don't fucking say it... I've been in and out of teams, I'm sure you know that. Now I really only rely on myself 'cause, for a while, that's all I could do."

She stopped again, seemingly reflecting on that last part for a little bit before shrugging it off. "I try to be adaptable, I guess. Beyond that, if there's one thing I can do right, it's hitting things hard. I try to just... do that?" Saying it out loud, Lyssa couldn't help but feel a little incompetent. Everyone needed a battle strategy, but if your most reliable strategy was as simple as hitting them, what else was there to say? Several more moments passed as she tried to think of ways to elaborate. "That about sums it up. More specifically... Slow things get the axe. Fast things can eat my pole or fuck off. If they like to stay away, I shoot 'em. My semblance makes it easy to camp out and wait for them to come back. The walls can make for good platforms, too. Dunno if that sparks your imagination at all."

Whether or not the shared information would do Mira any good was yet to be seen. However, one thing had surely become apparent to them both: There was a long list of reasons as to why Lyssa was not team leader material.

"Relax. I'm not going to go for the obvious jokes here. I have standards." She stopped for a second before remembering some of the bottom barrel insults shes thrown her teammates way before. The faunas slumped back into her booth before taking another fry out of her basket. "Addendum. I have some standards," she said before popping it into her mouth. Yet as nonchalant as this action seemed, Mira was taking careful note of her compatriots reactions. If anything could be said about Mira she was at least observant. "All business aside its nice to have some common ground at least. Keeps her from bitching me out every 6 minutes."

As cool as the girl tried to play it, her eyes and ears betrayed her emotions when the redhead brought up her battle plan. Her lackadaisical mood dissipated as she quickly transcribed Lyssa's explanation into her scroll. She pulled up a second screen holding her notes on Mithra, and began writing down comparisons and differences between the two. If the other huntress said anything after that Mira wouldn't have even noticed, her mind was far too busy making connections between weapons and semblances to care. It became so consuming that an entire minute passed with pure silence. Only a popup with a message shook Mira out of her trance. As her eyes quickly darted back to her partner only a single word ran through her head. "Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffuck." She quickly buried herself in the scroll once again, making last minute adjustments as the faunus berated herself. "You idiot. How many times have you been warned about spacing out. Whatever its fine. Just pretend this was meant to happen."

With a flick of her wrist the scroll was tossed into Mira's open bag as she locked eyes with Lyssa. "Well then. Considering you were," the woman caught her tongue in her teeth, catching herself from saying something that most probably would have pissed off the redhead, "....surprisingly honest with me. I guess I better be straight with you then." While she hid it mostly well, the subtle changes in her body language were clear to anyone who looked close enough. The tenseness of her muscles and stiffness of her movements belied how uncomfortable she was sharing about herself. "If you tell anyone I said this I will absolutely suffocate you in your sleep. But if we fought one on one you would destroy me. While my size lets me take some decent hits. I have no real options in close quarters other than come attacks to create distance. I am a medium and long range fighter to the core." Her bandaged hand slid over to her bag and returned with a tiny speck of fire and water dust. "Even my semblance cant be used correctly with someone bearing down on me. There's a reason I didn't use it in full strength in our fight. I didn't want to hurt you and the blind dude." Her other hand produced a lighter from her pocket and flicked it open. "don't get me wrong. We both know I'd be taking out my ass if I said we didn't get off punching eachother in the face. But I mean actually hurt you. It's just that my power is that destructive." A flash and the table was lit by the small flame in the faunas' hand as she held the dust to her lips. She closed her eyes and blew, a small puff of mist escaping her pursed lips. The moment the seemingly minuscule vapors hit the flame in her hand, a flash of flame lit the space between them, going off with a loud pop. Luckily the place was mostly empty, but they did get some stares from the staff around them. Ignoring their looks Mira just laid her chin in her hand and focused on her partner. "I literally breathe bombs."

Lyssa didn't pay much mind to her as she spaced out. At first she was a little perplexed, but it became obvious that Mira wasn't paying Lyssa any attention. She could use a break from this conversation anyway. Lyssa took the opportunity to steal a couple of fries from her distracted teammate. She hadn't ordered any for herself, as they were terrible for the strict diet that she worked very hard to maintain, but damn, they tasted good. She eyed the second burger that she had ordered, still wrapped up... As tempting as that was, she could go hungry for a little while longer. Lyssa's attention was brought away from food and back to Mira as she seemed to come out of her trance. She listened closely as Mira went on about herself.

"... Huh." Lyssa had to muster up every ounce of willpower that she could in order to avoid smiling as Mira admitted that the match-up between them was rather one-sided. She managed to keep her expression in check, though the statement had still inflated her already enormous ego just a little bit more. It wasn't a feeling that would last very long, as the memory of their first brawl always fresh in her mind. Part of her had to wonder... If they ever did have a one-on-one duel, would Mira also go down kicking, screaming and swearing as she had? Trying to imagine that painted a pretty clear picture of it in her mind. However, she had more important (and less amusing) things to think about at the moment. She watched Mira make a scene by setting off a miniature gas bomb in public, though surprisingly enough, it didn't tick her off. She suddenly had an idea for strategy, and given how rare that was, she wanted to share.

"Alright, there's something. I think I'd manage to take one of those explosions if I set up some of my barricades. Hell, surviving it is good enough. That'll give you a little more room to blow shit up if things get bad." She took a sip of her water, set it back down, then leaned back as much as she could manage in their crappy booth. "That'd come in handy for me... Can't say the same about everyone else, you included. Seems like it'd be easy to hurt yourself."

That train of thought managed to bring Lyssa around to an... interesting conclusion. She wasn't sure how accurate her assumption was, or even if this was a subject best left untouched. Never one for careful planning or caution, she decided to simply ask. What could possibly go wrong?

"... Oh, is that why you wear those bandages?" Lyssa's unflinching eyes were locked on Mira's as she posed the question, the woman casually taking a sip of her water.